Alpha Instinct

"How strong is a Legendary Leirion?" Leonard asked, his voice low, trying to keep the tremor out of it.

Kaleb stammered, glancing nervously back towards the direction of the roar, already gathering his few belongings. "Strong... we need to leave, Leo, right now..." He stopped, his gaze locking onto Leonard's, seeing the question still burning there.

"What is it?" Leonard pressed.

Kaleb let out a shaky breath. "You want to know how strong? You think Old Man Saito is strong, right? Think you could beat him?"

Leonard frowned. "No. Not yet. But someday... soon, I'll reach his level."

A short, harsh laugh escaped Kaleb's lips, devoid of any humor. "Good. Glad to hear you'll match the old man soon with those monster skills of yours. But you know, Leonard? That's not the problem."

"Then what is the problem?" Leonard asked, a knot tightening in his stomach.

"It would take three Saitos," Kaleb said, his voice barely a whisper, "to kill Skullcrusher... We need to leave. Now."

Leonard felt the blood drain from his face. Three Saitos. He stood frozen for a beat, the implication washing over him like ice water. He then forced himself to ask the next question, dreading the answer. "If... if a Legendary needs three like the master... how strong is an Alpha?"

Kaleb paused, his movements faltering. "An Alpha?" He shook his head slowly. "You don't kill an Alpha in a group, Leo."

"Then how do they die?" Leonard asked, his voice hoarse.

Kaleb, already turning to leave, stuffing his remaining items into his pack, replied over his shoulder, "The last time an Alpha was killed... it was by King Edward." He paused, adding grimly, "It was a raid. A hundred Neumonds. Almost half of them died."

Leonard stood rooted to the spot, his mind struggling to comprehend the chasm of power these creatures represented. "A hundred Neumonds... half died…" Then, a cold dread, sharper than any blade, pierced through his thoughts.

"An Alpha Leirion... attacked Besen... How did I survive?" Leo whispered.

Kaleb, noticing Leonard hadn't moved, turned back. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked, his tone laced with a kind of morbid certainty. "It wanted you to live. Alphas are intelligent and sentient. For some reason... it chose to let you live."

The world tilted. Leonard felt a profound sense of dislocation, as if the ground beneath his feet had suddenly turned to quicksand. It let me live? The attack on Besen, the chaos, the death... it wasn't just random destruction. It was... calculated.

He wasn't a survivor by chance; he was a loose end left by something incomprehensibly powerful. The reality of it hit him like a physical blow, stealing the air from his lungs.

Kaleb called his name. Once. Twice. Seeing Leonard still lost in thought, he reached out and gripped his shoulder.

Leonard flinched, looking at Kaleb blankly. "What?"

A guttural roar, closer this time, vibrated through the air, rattling the very leaves on the makeshift shelter.

"We need to go," Kaleb stated, his voice tight with urgency. "NOW."

They ran back, retracing the path they had taken. After some time, they found their horses, untouched.

Mounting quickly, they rode in the opposite direction of the chilling roar. After putting a considerable distance between themselves and Skullcrusher's territory, Kaleb finally spoke, his breathing less ragged. "Well, if we have to hunt Fleshripper, running into Skullcrusher might have actually been a good thing."

Leonard, still reeling from the revelation about the Alpha and his own survival, asked, distracted, "Why do you say that?"

Kaleb explained, "Monsters have hierarchies too, you know. If Skullcrusher was there, Fleshripper wouldn't get anywhere near him. Named Elites have a certain... independence. They don't like being bossed around, especially by someone that much stronger."

Leonard muttered, "Even the monsters... sounds like a bad joke..."

"Exactly," Kaleb confirmed, his usual cynical tone returning as the immediate threat faded. "The law of the jungle, or swamp, in this case. The strong prey on the weak. What a shit world."

After riding for some time, they spotted another Gnoll encampment through the fog. They stopped their horses at a safe distance, observing.

This camp was calmer and more contained than the previous one. Gnolls moved about, tending fires, sharpening crude weapons, or simply lounging in the mud. They seemed to be going about their daily, savage lives, following their instincts and internal hierarchies. Despite their lack of intelligence, Gnolls, much like the Red Orcs of Humbra, possessed a rudimentary form of society.

Leonard turned to Kaleb. "Are you ready to fight? That mana depletion... it can't happen again."

Kaleb nodded, looking more confident. "I'm fine. Just needed that potion and some time. I'll save Explosion for a real 'oh shit' moment, though."

"Good," Leonard said. He paused, remembering the chaos of his first encounter with Fleshripper. "Last time Fleshripper showed up, there was a huge fire in the Wetlands. He seemed... drawn to it, or maybe enraged by it. Maybe he doesn't like fire, or maybe it triggers something in his territorial defense."

Kaleb agreed. "It's possible. Fire is often linked to humans. Maybe living flames attract their attention, like moths to a... well, a much bigger, deadlier flame."

A slow, unsettling smile spread across Leonard's face as he stared fixedly at Kaleb.

Kaleb shifted uncomfortably. "Okay, buddy," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Either you just had a really disturbing idea, or you're planning to use me as kindling. That smile is creeping me out more than Skullcrusher did."

Leonard watched the Gnoll camp for another minute, his unsettling smile never leaving his face. Then, he turned back to Kaleb. "Alright, I have it," he said, his voice low and conspiratorial.

"Have what? Brain damage?" Kaleb muttered.

"The plan," Leonard ignored him. "We need a big fire, right? Something Fleshripper can't ignore. So, you're going to give him one."

Kaleb raised an eyebrow. "Okay... like, light a big bonfire? I can do that."

"No," Leonard said, shaking his head. "Not a bonfire. The whole camp."

Kaleb stared at him, blinked, then stared again. "The... the whole camp? As in, all of it? The shacks, the banners, the weird skull decorations, the possibly-explosive cooking pots?"

"Everything," Leonard confirmed, his eyes gleaming with a cold intensity. "But here's the catch: no one can see us. No alarms, no shouts, no Gnolls running around screaming 'Fire!' before it's too late. We need it to spread fast and unnoticed, until the whole place is an inferno."

Kaleb's jaw worked silently for a moment. "You... you want me to stealthily commit mass arson on a village full of monsters without anyone noticing until they're already on fire?"

"Exactly," Leonard said.

Kaleb threw his hands up in exasperation. "Are you insane?! What's next, you want me to summon a meteor shower to 'gently nudge' Skullcrusher out of the way? Maybe politely ask the swamp gods to flood the place? Why stop at the camp, Leo? Let's just burn down the whole fucking swamp while we're at it! Maybe the entire continent! Go big or go home, right?!"

Leonard simply shrugged, unimpressed by Kaleb's outburst. He gave a sharp nod towards the encampment. "I'll keep watch. You begin."

Kaleb sputtered. "But how do you expect me to do that? I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, but I can't just make it rain fire!"

Leonard looked at him, feigning wide-eyed surprise. "Oh, you can't? I thought you could..." He let a strategic, mocking smile play on his lips, deliberately provoking Kaleb.

Kaleb's eye twitched. He brought a hand to his chin, staring intently at the camp, then back at the sky, lost in thought for several long moments. A slow, wicked grin began to form on his own face. "...Maybe I can make it rain fire..."

Leonard's smile widened genuinely. "I knew you could do it! That's why you're the great mage Kaleb!"

"Okay, okay," Kaleb said, holding up a hand, explaining his burgeoning idea. "I'll conjure as many small magma spheres as I can handle. But instead of launching them at the camp, I'll shoot them straight up. High. They'll arc over and come down like... like a meteor shower. The Gnolls won't know it was us; they'll just see fire falling from the sky." He chuckled, a low, malevolent sound barely contained so as not to make noise.

Leonard gave Kaleb a thumbs-up, his face alight with animation.

Kaleb puffed out his chest slightly. "See? Not just raining fire, raining meteors. I know. I'm good."

Leonard rolled his eyes. "Alright, Kaleb, enough showboating. Just do your job." He made a 'get on with it' gesture with his hands.

They were crouched behind a large bush, roughly forty meters from the edge of the Gnoll encampment. Kaleb took a deep breath, focusing his mana. He began to spin his staff in majestic, intricate patterns, the air around him shimmering. Stopping the staff abruptly above his head, he whispered the single word: "Eruption."

Dozens of glowing balls of magma began to form around the head of the staff, mana condensing rapidly, transforming into bubbling, fresh lava. With a final thrust, Kaleb pointed his staff towards the overcast sky and launched the fiery payload upwards.

Leonard watched, startled, as the spheres ascended. "What the hell did you just do, you moron?"

Kaleb looked indignant. "What? I did what you asked!"

"Look closely..." Leonard said, his voice suddenly tight.

Kaleb focused his attention, tracking the trajectory of the magma spheres as they reached their apex and began their descent.

He had miscalculated the shot. Badly. The spheres weren't arcing neatly over the camp. They were spreading out, raining down across the entire area—not just the Gnoll camp, but the surrounding swamp as well. Including the patch of mud and withered bushes directly around them